Georgia Democrats predicted pickups in the General Assembly and the U.S. Senate Thursday fueled by out-of-state donations to build an ambitious voter-turnout program.
Democratic officials gathered the media to party headquarters on the fourth floor of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers offices. Senate nominee Jim Barksdale was also there to call for increased spending on infrastructure, education and “people” but without a tax increase while decrying federal deficit spending, foreign intervention, trade deals and Wall Street.
The event was an opportunity to jumpstart the party’s sprint to November balloting by celebrating some successes in Tuesday’s election returns and announcing a bold get-out-the-vote effort.
Among the successes were the election of the first Latina to the legislature, attorney Brenda Lopez from Gwinnett, and Barksdale’s own win in a three-person race as a political newbie with no name recognition – but a hat and lots of his own money.
Barksdale faced the reporters and introduced himself with a rundown on his bio and basic beliefs, more evidence of how little known he is in political circles. As a money manager by trade, he said he’s a contrarian and would be just as willing to stand up to prevailing thinking in Washington and Wall Street.
“If the policies that we have been following are so great, why are incomes down?” he asked.
He lobbed a few barbs at incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson for being part of the party that wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare and for its presidential nominee’s comments
about illegal immigrants and Muslims that Barksdale labeled discriminatory and hateful.
He agreed to take questions from the reporters. One was about how he would fund the increased spending while cutting the federal debt.
“I do not think our federal government is short of tax money,” he said, adding that he doesn’t favor tax increases.
Instead, he said he proposed finding waste by auditing federal spending and renegotiating pharmaceutical contracts for Medicare.
When asked about his criticisms of spending, foreign policy and trade deals and whether they should be instead directed at Democratic President Barack Obama, he sputtered.
“I, well, I’m not going to say… I’ll be clear about this: I am looking for policies that benefit our country. If that means standing against a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, I’m going to stand on behalf of whoever I need to stand on that against,” he said. “But I think President Obama has done a fantastic job, and I am not here to hang any part of that on him. That’s for sure.”
He said both parties were at fault, recalling that during his youth, the government built the interstate highway system while cutting taxes.
At that, DuBose Porter, the party chairman, cut off questions and introduced another speaker. Barksdale slipped out the door and was unavailable for the normal follow-up interviews that customarily come after news conferences.
State Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson then made a prediction.
“We will pick up seats. That’s a promise,” he said. “We have great people running.”
Turnout will be the key to the pickups, Porter said. That will be possible because of Donald Trump’s unpopularity and because out-of-state party donors are financing a sophisticated
ground operation in the state called the New Day Georgia Project.
The money is flowing due to recognition of the potential to turn the state blue in the presidential race, he said.
“The nation finally is realizing what we already knew, that we will turn the tide in 2016,” he said. “Two years ago, we held our own where so many states lost seats on the Democratic side.”
The money will allow the opening of more field offices than the party has had before.
